Brean Leisure Park
 | |
| Slogan | The South West's Leading Family Destination! |
|---|---|
| Location | Holiday Resort Unity, Brean, Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°17′08″N 3°00′35″W / 51.285668°N 3.009664°WCoordinates: 51°17′08″N 3°00′35″W / 51.285668°N 3.009664°W |
| Owner | Holiday Resort Unity |
| Operated by | Phil Booth [1] |
| Opened | 1946 |
| Previous names | Holiday Resort Unity |
| Operating season | March to November |
| Visitors per annum | 750,000+ per annum |
| Area | 200 acres (80.9 ha) |
| Rides | |
| Total | 30+ (T.B.C.) |
| Roller coasters | 4 |
| Website |
www www |
Brean Leisure Park is an amusement park in the coastal resort of Brean, near Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England. Brean Lesiure Park as a whole is owned and managed by Unity Farm (which is owned by the House family) whilst the Fun City amusement aspect is owned by Phil Booth as of August 2014. The park covers an area of 200 acres (80.9 ha).[2]
Open from March to November every year, the leisure park has also been a concert venue for artists such as DJ Casper,[3] Peter Andre,[4] Jason Donovan and The Wurzels. Sky have filmed an episode of Brainiac: Science Abuse entitled "Funfair Physics" at the park. An episode of BBC TV series Casualty was also filmed there in 2007 and again 2013. And an episode of CBBC TV series The Sparticle Mystery was filmed of the titled of the episode The FunFair.
History
Holiday Resort Unity is owned and operated by the House family, who are the sole owners of the 200-acre site. In 2012 they celebrated 65 years of trading.
1946 - 70's
In 1946 Albert and Marie House bought Unity Farm which is just after World War II and for the next 30 years they run the farm primarily as a dairy farm with a herd of 140 cows. They later supplied the local area with milk that was bottled on the farm. The farm grew to include a number of pigs and sheep and Richard House (the Managing Director of Brean Leisure Park and Albert and Marie's son) has fond childhood memories of his milk round and the pigs and sheep that lived on Unity Farm. Bert (Richard's brother) also had a passion for horse racing and enjoyed success with a number of winners in both flat and national hunt races.
However, as far back as 1946 camping was a very popular past time and Fry's Chocolate Factory from Bristol pitched large tents on three fields on Unity Farm for a two week period during the summer so therefore their employees could have a holiday by the seaside such as local areas being Brean, Berrow and Burnham-on-sea. The way Holiday Resort Unity is at present age started from this very stage and it wasn't long before many groups of people including the local Boy's Brigade Troops were coming to Brean to venture and have holidays.
In 1948 planning permission was granted to change the use of some of the farm land to caravans and camping and 20 acres was converted prior for this use. However, during the 50's and 60's caravan and camping became a bigger part of Unity Farm (presently known as Holiday Resort Unity) and slowly the number of cows, pigs and sheep decreased.
1970's - 80's
During the 70's and the 80's the beginnings of Brean Leisure Park were created along with the Mid Somerset Golf Centre which included Target Golf, driving range, pitch and putt and also a 8 hole golf course was opened alongside the other features. Throughout the years additional recreational activities were created which included greyhound racing, a swimming pool, donkey derby's and open air markets.
Brean Leisure Park as a whole was now attracting a lot of visitors from South Wales, Bristol and Birmingham and in the late 1970s the House family bought out all of the other directors so that they could concentrate on their passion of developing leisure and holiday facilities for local residents and holiday makers. The directors of the park from this point forward were Mr and Mrs House Senior and also Richard and Bridget House.
The 8 hole golf course was now expanded so that it could host 18 holes and Brean Golf Club was created. The course hosted a number of pro and celebrity amateur tournaments as well as becoming a members club and a facility for holiday guests to use.
In 1980 the complex that we know today as the 'Tavern' was opened and was previously known as the 'Farmers Tavern' providing a venue for evening family entertainment, functions and weddings. The complex also included an Amusement arcade and Fast Food outlets.
The Greyhound track was closed in 1984 and to improve the look of the park a significant landscaping project was undertaken across both Brean Leisure Park and Unity Farm (presently known as Holiday Resort Unity).
1990's
Further facilities were added during the 90's including a river type ride at the Swimming Pool complex (presently known as Brean Splash) and also the addition of two Ten-Pin Bowling lanes at Unity Farm (Holiday Resort Unity) in 1994.
2000 - 2010
In 2000 one of the biggest projects that the resort took on since it had first opened its doors and this was the RJ's Entertainment complex which was a one million investment in the resort. The American themed venue replaced Bert's bar and Chicks Roost with a venue with a capacity of approximately 700 people.
In 2008 it became the home of Sooty,Sweep and Soo,when Richard Cadell brought the rights from Hit Entertainment.
On Friday 18/7/2014 the park was sold to a family from Barry Island in south wales.
Attractions
The park has several rides, some of which are described at the Roller Coaster DataBase (RCDB):
- Magic Mouse – a spinning wild mouse ride. It follows the normal spinning style track layout and is one of the park's bigger rides. It was known as "Crazy Mouse" until the start of the 2007 season.[5]
- Shockwave – A ride constructed by Italian manufacturer Pinfari that has a loop.[6] It was originally owned by Pleasure Island Family Theme Park, Cleethorpes, before being sold to Brean.
- Xtreme – A KMG Speed_(ride). It's the largest and tallest ride at the park.
- XFactory – A KMG X-Factory which is similar to most traditional miami rides found at fun fair, with the extra added bonus of water jets that shoot water up at the riders when they are in mid-air. The seats tilt downwards so riders get a better view of the water and ground below.
- Wipe Out – A KMG Afterburner. It was voted scariest ride at the park by Brainiac.
- Hell Raiser – a Sobema matterhorn ride.
- Wild Water - log flume.
- Caterpillar – another Pinfari ride, which features a standard layout for this model of ride.[7]
- Terror Castle – ghost train.
- Sizzler – a PWS twister ride.
- Waltzer
- Sky Diver – a Zamperla freefall ride.
- Astro Storm – indoor coaster in the dark. Formerly at Pleasure Beach Blackpool. Opened 25 July 2011.
- Speed Wave - A Mondial Top Scan. Formerly traveled France, before residing in Hastings. The ride will be opening on the week of 29-4 July and August. (This ride was announced on the official Facebook page and their site.
Gallery
Brean Splash
Brean Splash is a waterpark owned and managed by Holiday Resort Unity under the Brean Lesiure Park branding which is owned by the House family. In 2014 Brean Splash made a £2 Million (GBP) investment on a brand new indoor splash aspect of the waterpark which has opened as of summer 2014.
References
- ↑ "New owner of popular Brean fun park". Burnham on Sea.com. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ↑ "Brean Leisure Park". Enjoy England. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ↑ "Review: Cha Cha Slide at Brean". BBC. 10 August 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ "Peter Andre Concert at Brean Leisure Park". Burnham-on-sea.com. 4 August 2004. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ↑ Magic Mouse Info on RCDB
- ↑ Shockwave Info on RCDB
- ↑ Caterpillar Info on RCDB